Florida Atlantic University Libraries

Jewish Heroes and Heroines in America

from Colonial Times to 1900:

Rebecca Gratz: Dedicated Her
Life To The Less Fortunate

by Seymour "Sy" Brody

Rebecca Gratz was a devout Jew who dedicated her life to
the service of the less fortunate in America. She was
born in Philadelphia in 1781 into a wealthy and highly
esteemed family that supported the American Revolution.
As a young lady, she was one of the most beautiful
and gracious women of her time. The attributes didn't deter her from
devoting her life to needy and charitable causes.

When she was 20, she organized the Female Association for the
Relief of Women and Children of Reduced Circumstances in Philadelphia.
She served as its first secretary and was a motivating force in its
administration and in raising much needed funds. Gratz was also one
of the founders of the nonsectarian Philadelphia Orphan Asylum,
chartered in 1815 and served as its secretary for more than 40 years.

Sensing that there was a further need to service the needy and the
unfortunate in the Jewish community, she organized and founded the
Female Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1819. She created the Jewish
Foster Home and Orphan Asylum in 1855 and led in the establishment
of the Fuel Society and the Sewing Society.

While she was involved with these charitable organizations, she
also managed to raise the nine children of her sister, Rachel, who died
in 1823.

Rebecca Gratz was always concerned about the religious education
of Jewish children. In 1818, she conducted a religious school for 11
Jewish children in her home with the help of an itinerant young
rabbinical scholar from Richmond. Unfortunately, the school didn't last
long.

Using the Christian Sunday school as a model, she tried again. In
1818, she organized a counterpart. Under the sponsorship of the
Female Hebrew Benevolent Society, the Hebrew Sunday School Society
of Philadelphia was created on March 4, her birthday, with about 60
students. She served as its president until 1864. The school was opened
to children from all parts of the Philadelphia Jewish community
without a fee.

Many Americans called Rebecca Gratz "the foremost American
Jewess of her day." Her fame was widespread as many people
believed that she was the prototype for Sir Walter Scotts's Rebecca, a
Jew, in his novel, Ivanhoe.

Rebecca Gratz, in her time, was one of the most noble women in
the world, who can be compared in modern times, for her work,
devotion, and dedication to the needy, to a Mother Teresa of the Catholic
faith. She died in 1869 at the age of 88 and was buried in the Mikveh
Israel Cemetery in Philadelphia.